Fighting for the Future
by The Hufflepuff Demigod
Summary: Somewhere in New England lies the Olympus Testing Facility, which is filled with kids. Kids with strange abilities and powers. Kids that aren't normal. Most of them accept the painful tests obediently, but some of them aren't content to be treated like lab rats. Led by Level Four test subject, Percy Jackson, they fight for their freedom. But will they succeed? Mortal AU.
1. Frank

**First story on this account. (Not my first fanfic, though, so feel free to be harsh. I've gotten tough in my "old" age.) Let's celebrate!**

 **Okay, so the first few chapters of this will be fairly short, to kind of get my bearings. It's been a while since I've written anything that wasn't for school. They'll also sort of establish what kind of place the Olympus Testing Facility is, and get things started for our characters.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or wish to make money off of this story. It is purely for fun. All rights belong to Rick Riordan and whichever studio owns PJO (Fox?). Please don't sue me.**

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 _ **Chapter One: New Arrival**_

Frank Zhang was new to the Olympus Testing Facility. His mother, Emily, was dead, a soldier killed overseas. His father, Mars Zhang, was high up in the military ranks, and traveled often. He had lived with his grandmother until yesterday, when he officially started living at OTF.

He remembered her reaction, two months previously, when three men in suits showed up on their doorstep. She was scared, but she knew it was coming. They gave him two months to say goodbye, to prepare to leave his home. The time went too quickly. Before Frank knew it, the men were there, forcing him into a black car with tinted windows. He had watched as his grandmother stood on the front porch of their house. She wasn't crying, but she was obviously upset. It hurt Frank to see his grandmother hurting.

They had driven for a long time. He fell asleep in Vancouver, Canada, where he lived, and woke up somewhere in New England. When they got out of the car, they were at a large building in the middle of the woods.

Now, he was in the cafeteria of the facility. It was filled with people ranging from age four to age twenty-one. They were as different as possible. Some were tall, some short, male and female. They were of all races, all hair and eye colors. The only thing they had in common was their outfits. They all wore the same thing as Frank.

All of them had a pair of jeans, tight on some, loose on others. Their shirts were tunic-like, with tank tops or t-shirts beneath. Some of them wore hoodies over their tunics. A pair of slip-on shoes that matched the tunics were on everyone's feet.

The outfits were many different colors. The most popular seemed to be pink amongst the girls, and black amongst the boys. Frank glance down at his gray uniform, and felt out of place. He stood awkwardly, holding a tray with a bowl of oatmeal, eggs, bacon, and a glass of orange juice, in his hands.

A boy sitting at one of the tables waved him over. Frank glanced behind him, but saw no one. He turned back to the boy, pointing at himself, and mouthing "me?" The boy laughed, and nodded, waving him over, yet again. Frank walked to the table, where the occupants were making room for him. He sat by the boy, at the end of the cold metal bench.

When they were all comfortably settled, the boy spoke. "I'm Percy Jackson," he said. He turned He was tall, and muscular, with an easy going smile. He had black hair and green eyes, which reminded Frank of the sea. As Frank would learn soon enough Percy was popular amongst the – to quote him – "freaks of nature" that inhabited OTF.

Next to Percy was Annabeth. She was from California, and as skinny, tan and blonde as one would expect. However, her hair was curly and wild, and her eyes a scarily piercing gray. Percy bragged whispered that she was probably one of the most frightening people on the facility. Frank made a mental note to avoid getting on her bad side.

On Annabeth's right was another girl, this one a few years younger than Percy and Annabeth. She was short and skinny, and looked underfed and slightly scared. Her skin was the color of mocha with cream, and her eyes were a rich gold. Her brown hair was curly and frizzy. Percy said her name was Hazel Levesque. Frank couldn't help but think that Hazel was beautiful.

Across from Hazel was a tall girl with black hair and electric blue eyes. Percy introduced her as Thalia Grace, or Pinecone Face. They were cousins, and as Frank observed, they were close. She had grinned, and flicked Frank a peace sign upon her introduction, then she had turned back to her conversation with her neighbor.

Said neighbor was Jason Grace, Thalia's younger brother. He was tall, with blonde hair cropped short, and electric blue eyes that matched his sister's. He seemed nice enough, if a little intimidating. There was just something unforgiving about the look on his face.

"So," said Percy, "what are you in for?"

"What?" Frank looked confused. Annabeth smiled kindly at him, whacking Percy gently upside the head.

"Don't be rude, Seaweed Brain," she cautioned, turning towards Frank. "He means why do they want you here, away from society? I'm here for my intelligence. My IQ is at least three times higher than average. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Frank was incredulous – he didn't know people could be that smart. Hazel giggled at the look on his face.

Before Frank could answer Percy's question, there was a commotion from the corner of the room. A skinny, tall girl was being dragged out of her seat by a pair of guards. The black uniform she wore nearly swallowed her, and even from here, one could see her wincing.

"Leave her alone!" yelled a boy with a raspy voice, as if he barely used it. He stood from the table by where Frank and his new friends sat, dark eyes flashing, and black hair messy. He too wore a too big black uniform, and he had dark bags under his eyes. The guards turned towards him. He gulped, but stood his ground.

"Can't you tell she needs rest?" he called, voice shaking with fear, "You just tested her yesterday!" The girl beside him tried to tug him down. She looked like she could his sister, with the same dark hair and eyes. The girl was muttering in another language, sounding reprimanding, but the boy wouldn't have it.

"Mr. di Angelo!" yelled a man from the door. He was in a wheelchair, with brown hair and a graying beard. He looked tired, but proud, as if this act of defiance from a teenaged boy was somehow doing something good for him. Frank had met this man when he first arrived. His name was Chiron Brunner (He asked to be called Chiron), and he was in charge of the activities and well-being of all the patients at OTF. Though from the looks of things, he wasn't doing a very good job.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, rolling over to the boy whose last name was di Angelo. The boy frowned.

"Chiron, you know they tested on Capuano yesterday," he protested, "You know how draining the tests are. Look at her, she looks exhausted." Chiron frowned, looking over at the girl who was nearly falling over in the guards' arms.

"You two!" he called the guards, "I told you to collect Ms. Gardner for testing, not Ms. Capuano." Frank shuddered a little at the anger in Chiron's tone, and glanced around the room. It had gone cold and quiet at Chiron's arrival.

"I am aware that they share a room, but that does not make them easy to mistake. If I find you have made a mistake like this again, you will be replaced immediately." The guards nodded obediently, and dropped the girl, who fell to the floor like a ragdoll. Instead, they approached a girl near the other end of the cafeteria, who stood shakily, following them quietly from the dining hall.

Chiron and the boy hurried over to the girl, tending to her fragile state. His sister, Percy, Jason, and Hazel, exchanged looks. Hazel dropped her head into her hands, and the boy's sister walked over, taking a seat at an empty chair at their table.

"Stupid Nico," moaned Hazel from behind her hands.

"I know," said the other girl, "Our brother really outdid himself this time." Hazel nodded into her arms. Annabeth frowned.

"He never acts out," she said, raising an eyebrow, and looking around the table for confirmation. When both girls nodded, she continued. "So, why did he defend her? He hardly knows her. Maybe from group testing, since they're the same age, but that's it. Not even from class – Capuano is Level One, but Nico is Level Four."

They shrugged, musing for only a little longer on the mystery of Nico di Angelo before they were dismissed to morning activities. Frank followed Annabeth and Jason, who were Level One, like him, down a long hallway, reflecting on his interesting first hour with the other patients.


	2. Leo

**Okay, chapter two! Again, this is really short (shorter than the first one, tbh), but I absolutely promise that ch 3 will be longer. It's been a while since I did the fanfic thing, guys.**

 **Thanks to the people who followed/favorited/reviewed, I'm really glad you like it. X3 (To RisingStar313: I find it ironic that you asked about Leo and Piper, and this chapter was already written.)**

 **Disclaimer: I seriously don't own this. I don't want money. Please don't sue - I'll lose and then I'll have nothing.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter Two: Best Friends_**

"Hey Pipes," Leo Valdez said, settling into a desk next to his best friend. She didn't respond, staring across the room at Jason Grace, who had his head bent over his notebook. Leo rolled his eyes, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

"If you're going to have a crush on Grace, the least you could do is make it less obvious," he said, jolting her from her revelry. Piper jumped, her face turning bright red.

"I don't know what you mean," she stuttered. Leo chuckled, rolling his brown eyes. He leaned himself back, balancing himself on the back legs of the chair. A smirk worked its way onto his face, well aware that it got on Piper's nerves when he did that. He had gotten many a lecture about the dangers of leaning his chair back through the months. Piper frowned at him, pushing him forwards so he landed back onto the ground with a thunk.

"Hey!" he yelped, "I coulda bit my tongue off!"

"It'd be an improvement," Piper assured him, a smirk settling onto her face. Leo stuck his tongue out at her playfully, and crossed his arms on his desk, tapping his fingers in a disjointed pattern. (Which earned him a glare from Annabeth. That girl needed to relax.)

"You should be nicer to me, McLean," he said, looking at her seriously. "They're moving me to Level Three soon." Piper, who had resumed her staring at Jason, whipped around to face him, startled.

"What?" she screeched, "Why?" Leo smiled wanly, sending a look at his hands, which were now fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Piper covered them with her hands, stopping his nervous movement for the moment.

"Apparently they've finally figured out how much damage fire can do," he said. Piper looked close to tears at the thought of her best friend moving up two levels and leaving her alone. He turned one of his hands up to grasp hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, don't cry, Beauty Queen. I'll still be here, you know. We'll still eat together. Nothing can keep the Super-Sized McShizzle away."

Piper cracked a tiny smile at his joke, though her kaleidoscope eyes gave away how upset she was. "You're just a repair boy," she teased, "Don't get too full of yourself."

Leo smiled at her, then tugged his hands away and began to add a braid to the back of her hair, both to distract himself and make her look away from her. He didn't want Piper to know how upset he was about leaving her – he also didn't want her to know that Jason was moving up with him, but that was a different matter entirely. A matter called jealousy.

Since arriving at OTF six months previously, Leo and Piper had been practically inseparable. They had met on a plane to Vermont, both terrified of the unknown that had lay before them. Piper had been sent to OTF after her father's secretary figured out that she wasn't just stealing things – she was influencing people to give her them just by speaking. Leo, on the other hand, had been sent off by his aunt after she caught him playing with fire – fire that he had magically created. To be forced away from his best and, if he was being honest, only friend was like having his heart ripped out. And the fact that she seemed to care a lot more about a guy she had never talked to than she did about her best friend hurt almost as bad.

He turned back to his own desk and cast his eyes downwards obediently when the teacher came in. Their teacher, a man who rarely spoke named Argus, began passing out worksheets and History textbooks. When he reached Leo, he handed him a thicker piece of paper than everyone else, which was undoubtedly made fireproof by someone in the facility's lab.

Briefly, Leo wondered if there was anyone else in OTF that had his ability to make flames from his body, or if the scientists had to print out special copies of everything just for him. He hoped for the latter, just to cause them more hassle.

He began to work on his worksheet, writing notes to Piper in the corner of his paper all throughout class. When they were done with their History assignments, it was time for math, and after that, English. Leo kept his mouth shut, regardless of how difficult it was at times, knowing the consequences of talking when not permitted.

The room was silent as the hours ticked by. Not even the new kid, a bulky Asian guy who had come in with Jason and Annabeth, said a word - and he hadn't even had his first punishment yet.


	3. Reyna

**Okay, so ya'll don't know this, but I'm trying to keep myself about one chapter ahead of what I post. Right now, I'm actually about halfway through chapter 5. This is going really well so far, I'm actually quite proud of myself. Hope you like this - Reyna is a queen, I hope I did okay with her...**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, please don't sue me.**

* * *

At this point, Reyna was just going through the motions.

Every morning, she'd wake up, pull her dark hair into its typical braid, and pull on her purple uniform. She would eat breakfast with Dakota, Gwen, and the ever-insufferable Octavian. She would go to class, eat lunch, and go to group testing. Every once in a while it would be her turn for the special brand of torture that the scientists at Olympus Testing Facility seemed to pride themselves on, the testing that they devised specifically for each subject. If she didn't have testing, there was Free Time, where they would lock her in a room with the rest of the Level Twos. Everyone else would socialize. She would sit in the corner, alone.

Her roommate, Hazel, would try to engage her in conversation, but she would ignore the younger girl until she gave up. It was routine.

Today was the same as the others. Or it started out that way. Reyna avoided Hazel's gaze as they shared the small mirror that hung over their equally small dresser. She rifled through the drawers for a clean tank top, carefully avoiding the neat piles of Hazel's things. There had been a time when her part of the dresser would have been equally neat, but that was only because Hylla insisted upon it.

Reyna only looked at Hazel when the girl spoke. "Um, Reyna?" she squeaked out, staring at the other girl in fear. With a start, Reyna realized that Hazel was scared of _her._ Her normally sharp gaze softened.

"Yes?" she asked, wincing at the cold tone to her words. That wasn't how she meant for it to sound at all.

"I, um, can't get a knot out at the back of my head and I was wondering if you could, um, help me?" Hazel stuttered out, casting her gold eyes down. Reyna didn't respond at first, too busy staring at her roommate. It had suddenly struck her how young Hazel was – only thirteen.

"Never mind," Hazel muttered quickly when she didn't respond. "I'll go ask Annabeth to do it or something." She turned towards the door, probably headed to the bathrooms shared by all the girls, but Reyna stopped her.

"No, no, it's okay," Reyna said hurriedly, taking the black hairbrush that Hazel held in her hand. "I have no problems helping you."

She began working on the knot, carefully untangling it with a surprisingly gentle touch. Though the knot was small, it was only one of the many in Hazel's wild curls, and was situated in the exact spot that Hazel couldn't reach. Without thinking about it, Reyna finished brushing Hazel's hair, working out all the knots as quickly and gently as she could, and humming softly as she did so.

When Reyna was done, she stood back, handing Hazel the brush. Hazel's gold eyes studied Reyna curiously, tilting her head in a way that somewhat reminded Reyna of a dog. She opened her mouth to speak – to ask Reyna if she had gone crazy, no doubt – when a commotion in the hallway attracted their attention.

The girls looked at each other in alarm as a scream pierced the air, followed by sobs. They both leaped for the door, pushing it open in time to see Lily Wright being shoved into her dorm by A. Res, the chief of security. (The cruel, muscular man was more commonly known as Ares, or simply Asshole, among both the subjects and the employees at OTF.)

One of his lackeys approached to hold Lily back as she surged forwards again. He wrapped a beefy arm around her waist and used it to trap her arms at her sides, his other hand held over her mouth in an attempt to quell her screaming and keep from causing a scene – though, judging by the number of doors that were now opened and the number of girls poking their heads out to get a look. Lily tried biting the man's hand, to a poor result. He removed the hand from her mouth, yes, but used it to grip her short black hair, yanking on it and pulling her head back as she cried out in agony. Ares watched in amusement.

Another one of the beefy guards – one of the ones who had mistaken Katie Gardner for Henley Capuano yesterday at breakfast – was holding Lily's twin sister back. Hallie was struggling as well, but Reyna could see the fight fading from her eyes. Finally, she gave up, letting her chin drop to her chest and her long brown hair swing in front of her face. Lily yelled out in anguish, or maybe pain, as they began to carry her sister away.

Reyna's heart ached for them. She wanted to send them some of her strength, siphon it off the way she had dozens of times before. One thing held her back, and it wasn't the consequences that using her power would have on her body – though they were definitely something to be considered.

Reyna's sister had used her powers without permission. Reyna's sister had disappeared.


	4. Percy

**1,069 words, yeah this beats my wordcount for all but the first chapter aren't ya'll proud? But yeah, here's chapter 4.**

 **A quick answer to a question: To the person who asked about the levels, there are "supposedly" four levels. People are classified based on: A) How dangerous their power makes them and B) how dangerous they are in general. (Like Luke's powers aren't that dangerous, but he's borderline criminally insane, so he's a Level Four. Same with Chris - not dangerous, power-wise, but mentally addled.) The more dangerous, the higher the level.**

 **Disclaimer: Please don't sue, I don't own Percy Jackson. I'm 15, a girl, and poor. I am the literal opposite of Uncle Rick.**

* * *

"Damn, Perce," Luke laughed, clapping the black haired boy on the shoulder. "You look like you've been hitting the hard stuff." Percy chuckled good-naturedly, but he ducked away from the older boy's hand, trying to cover the fear on his face.

"Shut up Luke," Thalia smirked, appearing next to him with Rachel. Like Percy, they looked exhausted and beaten to the bone. "You wouldn't know what the hard stuff was if it bit you in the ass." Everyone laughed, disregarding Luke's annoyed look.

Thalia was right, of course. Minus the fact that his mother was mentally insane, Luke had lived a fairly sheltered life until he had been carted to OTF at twelve. He didn't even know what drugs were until he met Thalia.

Rachel and Thalia, on the other hand, knew what drugs were all too well. The current theory was that weed had triggered Rachel's powers to come to light, even though she had her psychic abilities since she was very young, far before she had ever even heard of the stuff, let alone smoked it. Meanwhile, Thalia's mother had been an alcoholic and was always high off more drugs than Thalia could count. It was no wonder the woman was dead.

"Where's Chris?" Rachel wondered suddenly, green eyes scanning the hallway to which they were normally restricted during the day. "He wasn't in group or in class."

"Probably had another manic episode. They probably took the opportunity to poke around in his brain while he knew what was going on," Luke laughed, continuing down the hall towards the Level Four Individual Testing room. His huge grin slid off his face as he rested his hand on the door knob. He glanced back towards Percy, Thalia, and Rachel longingly. Percy sent him a salute, to which he replied with a nod, before pushing himself inside for a who-knows-how-long session of torture.

The remaining three "freaks" made their way to a room with couches and chairs, a television, and a few old, incomplete board games. The lock on the door clicked as they entered, but they paid no attention – they had known they were going to be locked in for Free Time.

"Love how they manhandle everyone else, but they're terrified to touch us without gloves and lab gear," Percy grumbled, flopping himself onto a loveseat.

"Do you _want_ to be shoved around?" Rachel asked incredulously, digging through the cabinet of board games until she emerged with a box of Tinker Toys. "We had Legos last week," she muttered indignantly as she settled on the floor at the coffee table.

Thalia rolled her eyes, and watched Rachel begin building a sculpture of some sort on the table, though she paused every few seconds to shove her unruly red locks out of her face. Finally, she turned to Percy, only responding to him after he had nearly forgotten what he had said.

"It makes sense, though," she said, inspecting a spot just above Percy's head, "I mean. Luke is terrifying now, you can control liquids – even that poison that Achlys made, Rachel can see the future and spout weird poems with creepy green smoke, and Chris is… well, he's different."

"Don't forget you," Rachel added, "With the whole electricity, and fighting, and weird youth thing. You're just as creepy as everyone else in Level Four."

"Thanks, Rachel," Thalia added sarcastically.

"Happy to help," Rachel replied, just as sarcastically.

"I didn't say I wanted us to be treated like that," Percy pouted, crossing his arms, "I think they shouldn't do that to anyone. Annabeth…" He trailed off with an almost dreamy look on his face, causing Thalia and Rachel to roll their eyes at each other. He thought he was hiding his crush on the Level One. He wasn't.

"Okay, sure," Thalia rolled her eyes.

They sat in silence for a while, though no one was fully comfortable with that. Finally, Thalia spoke again from her sprawled position on the couch, not even bothering to sit up. She moved an arm from her face, which had been covering her eyes.

"Did you hear about the Wright sisters?" she asked, opening one eye to look at Percy.

"No?" he sounded confused and vaguely worried. That was never a good way to start a conversation at OTF.

Thalia sat up, now, sharing a look with Rachel. She was somewhat surprised that none of their friends had mentioned it at breakfast – it was definitely the kind of thing that Annabeth would object to. Thalia sort of regretted choosing to eat with Bianca, Phoebe, and Zoë. She would have brought it up.

"They moved Hallie up to Level Three," Rachel said softly, wary of the way Percy's jaw clenched angrily. "Lily said that they didn't even tell Hallie that it was gonna happen. Ares and his cronies just came in this morning and yanked her out of their room. It was pretty scary."

"Did they hurt either of them?" Percy's voice was quiet.

Thalia winced at the anger that hid behind his cool tone. There was a time when Percy wasn't an angry person. Unfortunately, OTF changes people. And while Percy was still the happy, sassy person that he had always been, there was another person hidden below the surface. A sadder, angrier person.

"We don't know," Thalia said. "It looked like they just scared them. But they were pretty rough."

"Lily didn't tell me if she was hurt, but I don't think she was," Rachel added, attempting be soothing.

Percy was fiercely loyal to anyone he cared about when he arrived at the facility, but after six years, he had developed a need to protect all of the subjects, even those he didn't know very well. Unfortunately it was impossible to do so.

"What I don't get is this: why would they take one twin and not the other? I mean, they have the same abilities, right?" Thalia interjected, trying to avoid a Percy-freaks-out moment. Percy frowned, contemplating her question. Rachel stared at her Tinker Toy sculpture with her brow furrowed.

"I think they found out something else about her, though," Rachel said finally. She looked up at the other two, a look on her face that they couldn't quite place. "I saw it in my dream last night."

She turned towards Percy, her green eyes locking on his. "We need you to get us out of here," she said. "All of us."


	5. Jason

**Longer chapter than the last few. I would have this up sooner, but I had to finish the next chapter before I did. (I like to have at least the next chap finished before I upload.) But I just finished that, so now we get to see Jason. And things start getting interesting. Yay!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own this. Like. Plz don't sue. Plz.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Five: Movin' On Up**_

"You two," Mr. D, the terrifying director of Olympus Testing Facility, eyed Jason and Leo with contempt. "Come with me."

Leo and Jason glanced at each other fearfully. It was a well-known fact that Mr. D had been the directing of OTF for a long time, a career move chosen for him by his father, who owned the facility. He had grudgingly accepted the job, though he hated it and all of the subjects there. His hatred didn't reach its current level until his sons had begun to develop their abilities, and he was forced to bring them to the facility to have them studied. That didn't mean he was any more endeared to the subjects, however, and seemed to delight in the fact that they were locked up.

Mr. D led them out of the classroom. Jason could feel the eyes of the rest of Level One on his back. He stiffened a bit, straightening out. He had to leave them with a good impression after all. He glanced over at the Latino boy next to him, who was ducking his head, and shuffling his feet. He glanced back to smile at Piper McLean. Jason frowned. What was with them, anyway? They barely talked to anyone but each other.

They were led down the Level One hallway and were soon following Mr. D into an elevator that Jason had seen all of the higher level subjects go up. Mr. D pressed the button to send them up to the third floor.

Leo snorted. "So the Levels are the floors they're on," he said, "I thought it was actually something cool." Mr. D and Jason glared at him.

"Shut up," Jason hissed. His hand brushed against Leo's for just long enough that he felt a small spark of electricity run up his arm.

"Need I remind you of the rules, Jackson?" Mr. D started, ignoring Jason's mumbled corrections of his name. "No use of powers. Don't want to be punished now do we?" Jason shuddered, remembering the first and only time he had been punished. He had been seven, and had just arrived at OTF, but the memory remained ingrained in his brain.

"And, Lincoln," Mr. D continued, turning towards Leo, "if you must know, the Levels only correspond to floor because it's convenient, considering some of the imbeciles that work here. Also. Remember not to talk out of turn." Leo nodded, rolling his eyes at Jason.

The trio fell silent again as the elevator reached the third floor. As they walked down the hallway stretching in front of them, which was almost identical to the one they had just left, Mr. D was humming to himself – Leo was pretty sure it was Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet, but he wasn't positive.

"Here is your classroom," he announced finally, standing in front of one of the doors. He pushed it open, silencing the teacher and students inside. "Dr. Athena, here are the new Level Threes, Leopold Valance, and Justin Gray." Jason frowned as he messed up their names again, but didn't comment.

While Mr. D discussed Jason and Leo with the teacher, the subjects swiveled to stare at them. As strange as it was for anyone to change Levels, Leo and Jason were especially odd. There were two of them, for starters, and they were moving up two Levels, instead of just one. Also, Mr. D was escorting them, which was especially rare. It only happened when a subject moved up to Level Four, not Level Three. Add to that the fact that earlier that morning, Hallie Wright had also moved up to Level Three, and you got an extremely odd circumstance.

"You two," Dr. Athena snapped at them as Mr. D left the room. "Sit in the back between Ms. Lewis and Mr. di Angelo." She gestured towards the back row, and Leo and Jason squeezed their way through the desks. Jason settled next to Nico, sending him a smile. Nico glared back, then turned away to stare at his desk, leaning further into the corner than he already was. Leo settled at the desk next to him, cringing under the glare of Phoebe Lewis, who everyone knew detested boys.

Dr. Athena started lecturing about acute angles or something, but neither one of the boys was listening. Jason was trying to catch his roommate's eye, and Leo was steadily avoiding his gaze. For the next hour, Leo bounced his leg subtly under the table and stared at the board at the front of the room, though he was obviously not reading it.

Finally, Athena released them, announcing that it was lunch time. The subjects began streaming out of the room, excited to be freed from their desks and released to the relative freedom of the cafeteria. They remained silent, however, until they were huddled outside of the classroom and down the hall, near the elevator's doors.

Jason squeezed himself into the corner, next to Leo. "Hey, Valdez," he said quietly, "What's wrong?" Leo jumped at the sudden appearance of the blond boy, and ran a hand through his curly hair anxiously.

"No way, man," Leo said, flashing Jason as smile, "I'm psyched to be moved up to Level Three. Means I'm only one Level away from being a thing of their nightmares." He nodded towards one of the security guards spaced down the hallway, ready to strike if someone decided to get violent, through power or physically.

"Unless Level Five exists," Jason reminded Leo, glancing up as though he could see up to the third floor.

Leo snorted. "Yeah but it doesn't," he said rolling his eyes. "All that's on the fifth floor are science labs, Grace. That's what they told us at Orientation, right?"

Jason frowned, clearly not expecting that response. "Since when do they tell us the truth?" he asked, crossing his arms. Leo swallowed at the sight of Jason's muscles, but he still shrugged, playing it cool.

"Exactly," Jason continued, shuffling forwards as the elevator doors opened. About half of the Level Three subjects squeezed in with the five from Level Four. There was room for more – it was a large elevator – but there was a large area of space left around Chris Rodriquez and Luke Castellan out of fear. "I bet you believe that Reyna's sister was actually let out of this place, too," he added, contempt on the edge of his voice.

"No way," Leo said, "Obviously they killed her."

"I refuse to believe that," Jason mumbled, "She's in Level Five, with Lee Fletcher and Mr. D's son, and that Kelli chick." Leo turned to stare at him incredulously, but he didn't say anything. Soon enough, the elevator opened again, and the remaining Level Three subjects got into it, leaving some room near the front for part of the much-larger Level Two to get into the moving metal box.

Jason and Leo went their separate ways once they got their food, only nodding at each other. Jason joined his friends at their table, sending a smile to the new guy, Frank, and playfully knocking his shoulder against Hazel's shoulder.

"Hey, bro, how's Level Three," Percy asked, taking a large bite out of his sandwich. He stuck his tongue out after swallowing the bite, muttering to himself. "I asked for turkey, not bologna."

"It's just like One," Jason reported, taking a significantly smaller bite out of his own sandwich, and sighing in relief when it was actually turkey. "'Cept Dr. Athena talks a lot more than Argus did." Jason didn't miss the flash of pain that crossed Annabeth's face at the mention of her mother, but she hid it quickly.

Hazel frowned at the table, before speaking up. "Did you see Hallie?" she asked, "Was she okay?"

"You mean the taller Wright sister?" Jason asked, "Yeah, she was in class. She looked tired – I think they did testing on her this morning or something."

Hazel let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders and back relaxing at the news. She didn't know either of the Wright twins, but she was constantly worrying about other people. The fact that the twins had been torn away from each other before breakfast was probably killing her all morning.

"So, did you talk to Leo about Piper?" asked Thalia, smirking at her little brother. Jason's face colored, and he looked at his plate.

"Why would I do that?" he asked his sandwich. Hazel giggled.

"They're best friends," Thalia continued, "So if you get to know him, you'll get to know her. And who knows – maybe Leo will be cool too." Jason shook his head, taking another bite of his sandwich to avoid having to respond.

Percy idly spun his finger in the air, watching as a small whirlpool appeared in the plastic cup of his water. Frank watched in fascination, until Annabeth shot him a glare, and the whirlpool disappeared. The black haired boy leaned forwards then, a look of determination in his eyes.

"What would you guys say if I said that I was going to get us out of here?" he whispered, just loud enough that only the occupants of their table could hear.


	6. Hazel

**This chapter made me feel like a monster, because I hurt Hazel, and she is like my favorite character. :'( Please don't hate me for that.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own. And I probably shouldn't because poor Hazel.**

* * *

Hazel was speechless. She sent a glance at Frank, who was tilting his head in confusion as Percy and Thalia explained Rachel's premonition that they had to get out of the facility. She shook her head slowly, the shaking steadily spreading from her head to the entirety of her small frame.

"Are you crazy?" she interrupted Percy and Annabeth's discussion of strategies. "Ares will hear about it, and then we'll all be punished. I can't believe you- this- you're _crazy_." She hissed the last word fearfully.

A final shake of her head, and she stood up, taking her tray and moving to the table in the corner occupied by Nico. After his outburst three days earlier over Henley, he had receded into the shell that he had barely started to emerge from. Now he remained huddled in corners during class and meals, speaking less and less. It didn't help that any day now, he would have Individual Testing. No one looked forward to that.

"What do you want, Hazel?" Her brother's voice was quiet, and his head was bent towards the table with his hair covering his brown eyes.

"I wanted to get away from that table before Ares heard them talking and we all got in trouble," she replied, tilting her head to the side. "But now I'm worried about you. What's wrong, Nico?"

Nico shook his head, looking up slightly at her. Hazel noticed the bags that were always under his eyes seemed to have gotten darker. There was no way he was okay. Her eyes searched the room for their older sister. Bianca had to have noticed something was wrong with Nico. Bianca noticed everything in relation to Nico.

"I'm fine, Hazel," he said, glaring at her worried face. "I'm supposed to worry about you, not the other way around."

She bit her lip. Nico wasn't the type of person to be overly worried about people, but he was extremely protective of Hazel. It was annoying, sure, but it made her feel safe, a rare feeling in the facility that had held her captive for the past year.

 _"It'd be lot easier to do that if you didn't set yourself up to be worried about,"_ she thought, glaring at Nico. He noticed her glare, and frowned at her. Hazel shook her head to snap herself out of it.

"If you say you're fine, I guess I can't argue but-"she was cut off by the appearance of a pair of security guards near the cafeteria doors.

One held up a piece of paper, and the other's eyes scanned the room. They paused, locking eyes with Hazel, and hurried to her table in the corner. The slightly beefier one, who wasn't holding the paper, grabbed her upper arm, hauling her out of her seat and forcing her to abandon her sandwich. "Testing," he said, in a gruff voice, yanking her towards the door.

From the angle she was at, she could see the paper the other one held, a picture of her staring up at the ceiling with dead eyes. It was probably a precaution so they wouldn't make another mistake, she realized, smiling in spite of herself. Her smile died as she saw the look in her brother's eyes as they yanked her away from him. It was a look that matched Percy's when he got into one of his moods. Fear bubbled in her stomach as she watched him get up and walk towards her friends' table, a determined look on his face.

Then the door closed behind her.

The guard that was dragging her shoved her into the elevator, jamming his finger into the button for the second floor. He pushed her to the back corner. Hazel winced as the handrail on the wall connected with her side in a painful way.

The ride to Level Two was silent. The two guards were shooting her wary glances. They surely didn't know what she could do, otherwise they wouldn't seem quite as concerned. Her sorcery was weak at best, certainly nowhere near Lou Ellen Smith's, and there was no way that she could summon cursed jewels in an _elevator._

The minute the doors slid open again, the beefier guard shoved her out. Hazel wondered why he was the one doing all of the heavy lifting. She was small, even for thirteen, and it wasn't like they were given much opportunity to build up muscle at OTF. They were barely even allowed to go outside.

"In here," said the one who had been holding her picture, gesturing to one of the Individual Testing rooms. He smiled cruelly down at the young girl. "They're real excited about today," he smirked. "Drs. Athena and Blofis have something special lined up for you." Hazel repressed a shudder at his cold voice as she was shoved into the room. They slammed the door behind her, and she heard the lock click, trapping her in the room.

"Hello, Hazel." She jumped at the voice of Dr. Blofis. The man smiled kindly down at her. He ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair, looking apologetic. "Didn't mean to scare you," he said.

"Oh, don't be sorry, Blofis," Dr. Athena said, appearing from behind a large machine. "A little fear is good for the soul." The woman smiled at Hazel, who shrank away. Dr. Athena tied up her brown hair and smirked at the girl.

"There's no reason to be afraid," she added, though her piercing gray eyes told a different story. "We're just going to hook you up to this machine and then you'll do what we say, and this will be over very quickly."

Hazel nodded, swallowing the lump of fear in her throat. She walked over to a chair in the center of the room, closing her eyes as Dr. Blofis began attaching wires to her forehead and her arms. Dr. Athena made a tutting sound, and poked Hazel in the side. The tiny girl squealed and her eyes snapped open.

"That's better," Dr. Athena said. She walked over to the stool that sat in the corner of the room and took a clipboard from the table. Hazel could have laughed at how stereotypical the whole thing was, but she was a bit preoccupied by Dr. Blofis, who was mumbling apologies to her under his breath.

"Okay, Hazel," he said finally after going through a complicated process to turn the machine on. "There are some jewels under the floor in this lab. Summon them for us."

Hazel knew he wasn't lying – she could feel the presence of the precious stones beneath the floor. A small part of her wondered how they got gems under the second floor, but she didn't dwell on it, knowing that not immediately doing as she was told would get her into trouble.

She closed her gold eyes for just long enough to locate the jewels. Then she opened them again and willed them to come through the floor. At first, nothing happened. Dr. Athena let out a little hum of disappointment, and scribbled something on her clipboard.

"Work with us, Ms. Levesque," she chided. Something about her tone made Hazel angry. She felt a familiar tugging sensation in her gut, and then the floor split open at Dr. Blofis' feet. Jewels emerged from the ground, rubies and emeralds and a single sapphire sparkled on the floor. Dr. Athena nodded jotting something down on her wretched clipboard.

Dr. Blofis leaned down, stretching out his hand to pick up the stones, probably to hide them away wherever they took the things after her testing sessions. Hazel's eyes widened, and she found herself lurching forwards, sitting upright in a way that caused the wires attached her skin to tug painfully.

"Don't touch them!" she cried. Dr. Blofis froze, eyes darting from her to her hand, as though he hadn't realized what he was doing. Dr. Athena pressed the stupid button again, watching as Hazel grit her teeth to keep from screaming as waves of pain ran through her small frame.

"No speaking out of turn," Dr. Athena reminded her, sounding almost bored. She turned towards Dr. Blofis and nodded. "We'll have the girl pick them up later. Don't need one of our best scientists to die a nasty death, do we?" She sent him a toothy smile that reminded Hazel of a shark.

Dr. Blofis nodded, and began to remove some of the wires from her skin, replacing them with new ones. Hazel frowned as Dr. Athena began to boot up another machine, one that she had never seen before. Dr. Athena noticed her gaze, and smirked.

"Just seeing how you respond to pain," she informed the girl, as though it was a casual occurrence. Dr. Blofis grimaced, muttering a quiet apology to Hazel as he attached the last wire.

Dr. Athena flipped a switch and a pain ran through Hazel's body that was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She gnawed on her lip, biting hard enough to draw blood, to keep back the ear-splitting scream that was building in her throat. Dr. Athena looked at a screen, and jotted down information on her clipboard as though the girl in front of her wasn't being attacked by electric bolts.

Hazel got a brief reprieve, before another switch was flipped. Her insides felt like they were on fire, and she clenched her fists to keep herself calm. Tears slipped out of her eyes, and felt oddly cool against her flushed skin. She felt her nails digging into the skin of her palms, and focused on that feeling to distract her from the pain of her entire body.

"Stop it," Dr. Blofis said suddenly, startling both the doctor and subject with his harsh tone. He reached across Hazel to the machine, turning it off. Then he began to remove the wires from her skin, all whilst Dr. Athena stared in shock.

"What are you doing, Blofis?" Athena sounded incredulous. As well she should – no one ever cut off a testing session. Ever.

"I'm stopping this," he said, glaring at the woman. "I refuse to sit by and let you abuse a kid." Dr. Athena's face hardened.

"It's not abuse," she said. "It's science."

"It's cruel," Dr. Blofis pulled the young girl into his arms, and hugging her to his chest protectively.

Dr. Athena didn't move, still in shock from the entire ordeal. Dr. Blofis hauled Hazel to her feet, pulling her to the door of the lab. He used fumbled with his key ring on the way, inserting the correct key in the lock the second he reached the door, and pulled her down the hall. He didn't stop moving until the elevator doors were safely closed behind them.

Hazel felt her legs begin to give out, and grabbed for the handrail as she fell to the floor. Dr. Blofis dove after her, hoisting her into his arms. She clung to his shirt, fighting back the feeling that he was going to drop her just to see her in pain.

When the elevator reached the first floor, Hazel expected him to take her to her room, where Reyna would find her in a few hours, huddled on her bed in tears. Instead, he carried her to the restricted hallway, where the rooms of the adults were located. Dr. Blofis finally set her down in one of the rooms, on a bed with a thick blue bedspread.

"Is there anyone you want me to get for you?" he asked softly, handing her a cup of water. Hazel took it with shaking hands, racking her brain.

"N-Nico," she said softly, "Get Nico."

"Di Angelo?" he asked, and the girl nodded, curling into herself in fear. She nodded. He jotted the name down on a piece of paper, and asked if there was anyone else. She tilted her head, thinking for a moment, before reaching for the paper. Dr. Blofis handed it and the pen to her, and she began to write out a list of names.

Dr. Blofis read the list, nodding at each name, then folded it up and stuck it in the pocket of his lab coat. He turned, starting for the door of his small apartment.

"D-Dr. Blofis?" she stuttered out. He paused, turning to look at her with a gentle smile.

"Call me Paul," he said, kindly, "At least when no one is around."

Hazel nodded, correcting herself. "Paul," she said blinking her gold eyes at him. "Thank you." He nodded, smiling kindly, and then slipped out of the room.


	7. Nico

**OKAY I don't know how I feel about this chapter, honestly, but we'll see what you think. I feel like it's a little...disorganized. But I've decided that is because it's all very confusing right now for the subjects.**

 **In reply to Paragon Eight, who was surprised with how I portrayed Athena: I think that Athena would be one of those people who is in it for the science, and doesn't really see that she's doing something wrong. That's why she feels the way she does when Paul tells her she's being cruel. Also, I think she doesn't quite see them as humans - just as test subjects. To her they aren't really kids with feelings. Not even her daughter.**

 **Also, I really want to thank AnamariaJovel, who was super amazing and (very eloquently) reviewed all six chapters, and IDK, it made me smile really big and feel very fluffy inside. Normally I don't thank people via AN, but I felt like I had to, seeing as you motivated me to work on this story some more.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Perseus, or Hazel, or Nico, etc, etc.**

* * *

Dr. Blofis appeared in Level Three Free Time without warning. One minute, Nico was sitting alone in a corner, watching everyone with his hood pulled over his head. The next, the middle-aged scientist was standing in front of him, telling him that he was needed for a special testing group.

Nico followed Dr. Blofis out of Free Time, steadfastly ignoring Leo Valdez, Jason Grace, and Will Solace, who were also apparently part of the special group. Dr. Blofis hurried them into the elevator, letting out a sigh of relief as the doors slid shut.

Nico was startled to realize that they weren't the only ones in the elevator. He looked around at the eleven other teenagers gathered in the space, an odd assortment, to say the least. All of them were looking around in confusion, sticking close to those they knew well. Nico spotted his older sister in the back corner, letting her hair shield her face, and pushed his way to her side.

"What's going on?" he muttered. She shrugged, holding his hand gently.

"I don't know," she said, "I was headed to Group when he stopped me." Her eyes fell on Dr. Blofis. Nico nodded, and subconsciously leaned against Bianca's side.

Just before the doors opened on the first floor, Dr. Blofis leaned over and hit the button that closed the doors. He turned to address the subjects in front of him. "Here's what is going to happen," he said, his voice low and serious. "We're going to stick together, and you're going to follow me. We have to be fast – if someone stops us, act like you're headed to one of the Level One Group rooms."

"Where are we going?" someone – Nico couldn't see who – asked. "What are you going to do to us?"

"I'm going to help you," said the scientist, trying to sound reassuring. "We're going to my apartment. Hazel requested you guys specifically." Some of the subjects looked confused by this, like Leo Valdez, who wasn't friends with Hazel.

Dr. Blofis reached to start the button and open the door, but he paused. "One more thing: call me Paul."

The doors slid open, and he led the subjects quickly and quietly down the hall. After what felt like hours of praying no one would come around the corner, they were being ushered into his small apartment. Nico looked around, but his eyes soon landed on Hazel, who was cowering on the bed. She looked tiny and frail. Nico let out a gasp and shoved his way to her, ignoring Bianca who made to grab his arm.

He pulled Hazel into his arms, pressing a kiss to her cheek gently. She looked up at him with wide, slightly terrified eyes. "What did they do to you?" he demanded quietly, taking in the way her body shook. Her cheeks were flushed, and she winced with every movement.

"Th-they," she shook her head, sucking in a breath. "It hut-urt." Nico frowned, wiping a tear away from her gold eyes. Bianca finally sat beside Nico, running a hand over Hazel's curly hair soothingly. She wasn't satisfied with Hazel's response, and turned to glare accusingly at Paul over her shoulder.

"It was a new form of testing," he said, glaring up at the ceiling as though he could see Dr. Athena. "Pain response."

Thalia was standing near the front of the group, and sucked in a breath. Her blue eyes were widened. She looked horrified. "I thought that was only for the older subjects," she sputtered. "And only Level Fours."

"It was," Paul said, his voice dangerously low. "I don't know how Athena got it approved to use on Hazel."

Percy watched the scene before him with an indescribable look in his green eyes. Nico frowned as Bianca fussed over Hazel, watching him. The older boy looked almost lethal. And while Nico appreciated the fact that the guy would jump in front of a bullet for his younger sister, and yeah, Percy is hot, something was terrifying about his face. It was unsettling, and Nico was not the type of person that got easily rattled.

"Can I try something?" someone near the back of the group piped up, interrupting a conversation that Paul was having with a couple of subjects about how testing was getting progressively worse. Nico's dark eyes scanned the group, finally falling on Will Solace.

Nico recognized the blond by name, but knew little else about him. Paul nodded, and Will made his way towards Hazel. Before he could reach her, however, Nico shifted himself so he was blocking the other boy's way.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Will sent a look towards the ceiling, almost exasperated.

"I'm gonna try to heal her, sunshine," he said as though it was obvious – and Nico supposed that if he actually cared enough to know all the subjects, it would be. Will smirked, lifting his hands to wiggle his fingers in a way that was supposed to signify magic, though Nico thought that it probably would have offended Lou Ellen, who could _actually_ do magic. "With my powers," Will added, as though it wasn't clear.

Nico glanced at Hazel who looked like everything hurt, and nodded with a sigh. He moved away, watching over Will's shoulder. The older boy settled on the edge of the bed, reach out gently towards Hazel. He placed one hand on her arm, and another on her forehead, closing his eyes. He hummed softly for a moment, and Nico swore his already golden tan began to glow.

Will opened his eyes again, moving slightly away from Hazel as she too began to glow. Nico looked alarmed. "What's happening?" Nico whispered, glaring slightly at Will. Will looked up at him for a moment, and Nico couldn't help but notice that his eyes were devastatingly blue.

"It's working," Will said, sending a beautiful – _no, annoying_ , Nico chided himself – smile to the Italian boy.

"Thank God," he heard Percy mutter, and he felt his heart feel oddly torn between the two gorgeous – _no, stupid_ – boys.

Hazel stopped glowing, and opened her eyes. She cleared her throat, before shifting herself so that she was sitting up and leaning against Bianca ever-so-slightly. She looked at everyone, before locking eyes with Percy.

"We need to get out of here," she said after a long, slightly uncomfortable silence.

Everyone started talking at once.

* * *

 **I hope Hazel's reaction was a bit believable. IDK. Thanks to everyone who's reading/reviewing/favoriting/following, btw. It means a lot.**


	8. Frank II

**It's been a little longer than usual, but I've been without wifi - my dad owns a gaming company for renaissance festivals/medieval fairs, and they got into the Great Lakes Medieval Fair like super last minute. Since I'm at his house at the moment, I had to go with him to set up, and then I had to work for him this weekend. So yeah.**

 **Anyway, I kind of think of this story in stages. The first stage was the buildup-intro-thingy. We've now officially moved on to stage two: Planning the escape.**

 **To Daziy is SoniQ: I meant that Athena is surprised, not only by Paul's actions, but also by the fact that he doesn't see it the way she does, as something they're doing for the sake of science. Does that make sense?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Okay? Okay.**

* * *

Frank was confused. He wasn't entirely sure what confused him, exactly, which frustrated him to no end. All he knew was that this "Olympus Testing Facility" was more than a little terrifying, and that he had somehow ended up as part of a rebellion.

During his first Individual Testing, they had hooked him up to a machine and forced him to turn into a pig, a kangaroo, an eagle. Each animal was weirder and more specific than the last. If he didn't turn into the animal, or, God forbid, turned into the wrong animal, one of the scientists would press a button and he would be clenching his jaw to keep from screaming in agony.

He had asked about how that was even legal, and only gotten shrugs in response. Hazel had looked up from behind her hair, and smiled sadly at him. Frank felt bad for her. Whatever _Pain Response_ was, it had effected Hazel in a horrible way.

"She's always been quiet," Percy whispered to him as their entire table watched her eating with Nico during breakfast one day, shortly after what they had begun to refer to as _The Incident._ "But this… this is worse than normal."

At night, Frank stared up at the ceiling of the room that he shared with a boy named Dakota, who genuinely liked drinking the disgusting, more-watery-than-normal Kool-Aid that was given out in the cafeteria.

He didn't know why his grandmother had let him be brought here. A small, immature, part of him was praying his father would find out what was going on and swoop in to save him. Frank scolded himself every time those thoughts cropped up. Mars Zhang would have seen that as sissy behavior, and he didn't take kindly to sissies. Frank had been raised to fight for himself instead of relying on his father to fight his battles for him.

That was why he was had immediately volunteered to commandeer the Level One part of what Percy had taken to call _The Resistance._ (The name had earned him a smack upside the head from Thalia, who told him that he was "the worst person at naming rebellions since the Revolutionary War.") His eagerness to volunteer had surprised everyone, him more than anyone.

Paul and Percy, who had become the semi-official leaders of The Resistance, were reluctant to choose him, clearly leaning towards the choice of Annabeth for Level One Leader, but Frank had made a convincing argument that he didn't even know he had, stating that most, if not all, of the Level Ones were terrified of Annabeth. He pointed out that he was a lot better with people than she was, and it would be easier to gain the other Level Ones' trust for him than for her.

Frank's job was, among other things, to spread the plan amongst the Level Ones. Annabeth had become their official strategist. She helped him spread the plan, as did Piper, who used her powers of persuasion to shut up the snitches and convince those who were reluctant to help.

This was how he found himself sitting on one of the couches during freetime, holding a droopy-eyed six-year-old named Julia in his lap and muttering to the Stoll Brothers.

"So you're saying-" Connor started, before his older brother cut him off.

"That you want us to use our powers to slip away and knock someone out?" Travis finished. Connor glared at him, but he ruffled the younger boy's hair in an almost-but-not-quite patronizing manner.

Frank nodded, relieved that they understood without him having to explain several times, like he had with Drew Tanaka. (Granted, Drew was too busy critically eying her nail beds, and cutting him off to make honey-sweet criticisms on everyone in the room, to actually pay attention to him.) He hesitated before asking his next question.

"Do…Do you think you could make someone else invisible with you?" he asked cautiously. Connor looked at him appraisingly, raising an eyebrow.

"No offense, Zhang, but I think that you're a little tall to disguise," he said, hurrying the end of his sentence so Travis was unable to complete it for him. (This earned him a glare, but it was playful.)

Frank's cheeks reddened inexplicably. "N-no!" he said, a little louder than he had intended. A few of the subjects seated near him gave him odd looks. He cleared his throat, lowering his voice. "Not me." Frank gestured to the little girl who was slowly falling asleep in his lap. "Julia."

Travis tilted his head, and Frank was reminded a bit of a dog. "Why?" he asked, sounding a little confused, before realization dawned on his face. "Oh. That makes sense."

Frank nodded, then clarified when he noticed Connor was still confused. "Percy and Paul decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to get her involved. There are a couple other little kids in the upper levels, but Bianca and Nico are getting them away. We were wondering if you'd be able to get Julia somewhere safe, so she can't get hurt."

Connor and Travis looked at each other, and, not for the first time, Frank was stunned by how similar the brothers looked. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought they were twins. Finally they nodded, and Travis turned back to him. "We can do that," he said, eyes falling on the small girl with pigtails.

At lunch, Frank informed his friends – for in the month and a half that he had been at OTF, they really had become his friends – that the Stolls were able to hide Julia, which made Hazel sigh in relief. Frank smiled when he noticed the smile on her face. Smiles from the tiny girl were rare in the past weeks. Unfortunately, it was short-lived, as Thalia settled into her seat at their table looking like death.

"Individual Testing is killer. Sometimes, I wonder why our dads don't get us out of here," she remarked, looking at Jason with a wistful smile. Her look hardened and she glared at a spot just beyond her brother's head. "Then I remember that they're the sadistic, twisted, individuals that own this Godforsaken place."

Frank nodded sympathetically, even though he knew she was speaking mostly to herself. He knew that Jupiter and Zeus Grace were the twin brothers who had fathered Jason and Thalia, respectively. Each had briefly married their mother, Beryl, and divorced her shortly after their child's birth, avoiding the responsibility of fatherhood. In return, when both children had ended up able to control electricity, and Jason had actually _flown,_ she had sent them to OTF, where their fathers would have to indirectly care for them. Frank would have found it funny if it weren't so sad.

What really _was_ funny was the fact that Mr. D was Thalia's half-brother.

Annabeth frowned at her. "At least you don't have my _mother._ " The five others at the table shuddered involuntarily at the mention of Dr. Athena.

Frank saw something spark in Hazel's eyes – fear – but she hid it so quickly that he decided he was going crazy.

Thankfully, they got off of the topic of parents quickly enough, all agreeing that either Annabeth or a Level Two named Clarisse had it the worst. After all, Clarisse's father was Ares.

Frank scooted a little closer to Hazel, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" he asked softly, making sure he didn't attract the attention of the rest of the table's occupants. She jumped slightly, but nodded.

"Just jumpy," she replied. Frank nodded. He removed his hand from her shoulder, placing it on the bench next to the one of hers, and took a bite of his sandwich with the other. He was pleasantly surprised when he felt her tiny hand cautiously slip into his.

They ate in silence, and no one seemed to notice the fact that they were each only eating with one hand.


	9. Percy II

**A little Tyson/Percy/Sally family feelsy filler chapter-y thingy.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own this. *begins sobbing profusely***

* * *

Percy stared at the phone in his hand. Dr. Blofis had locked him in one of the Cells a few minutes before, discreetly handing him the phone on his way out the door. A small piece of paper was clutched in his other hand, with a number and a name scrawled across it.

 _Sally Jackson_

Percy wasn't ready to hear her voice again. He was seventeen, and he missed his mother desperately, but he was so torn. Part of her was annoyed with himself for wanting his mommy, when she clearly hadn't wanted him. His powers had scared her, and she sent him away. She had abandoned him, just like his father, who had left before he had even been born.

He lifted his gaze, eyes locking on the only other person in the room. Curled up on one of the beds in the corner, was a large boy. He was significantly taller than Percy, with one big brown eye. The other was a milky white, the cause of which made Percy's stomach churn with anger. Brown curls sprung messily from his head, and he bit his lip with large, crooked, and yellowing teeth.

The other boy looked up, noticing Percy for the first time. "Brother?" he asked, voice cautious.

"Hey, Big Guy," Percy replied, running a hand through his messy black hair. He sent his brother a smile, which the kid returned happily.

"Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to give me a hug?" he asked, opening up his arms. The taller boy leapt up from his seat, running over to Percy. He wrapped himself in his brother's arms, burying his face in Percy's shoulder.

"Tyson." Percy pulled himself away from his brother, trying to keep himself from remembering that the boy was only fourteen. "W-we're going to call Mom."

"Sally?" he asked, looking scared and excited. He, like Percy, felt almost betrayed by his adoptive mother.

Percy nodded, wincing as Tyson looked excited. There was no way he could get out of this now, not when it made his brother so happy. He reluctantly held up the phone again, and typed in the number with shaking fingers. He let it ring, holding the small device to his ear with one hand, and holding Tyson's hand with the other.

"Hello?" At the sound of his mother's voice, Percy sunk to the floor. It took everything in him not to cry.

"Mom?" he responded hesitantly. He heard an intake of breath from the other end of the phone, and the sound of a door closing. He put the phone on speaker, glancing at Tyson nervously. Tyson responded with a reassuring smile.

"Percy?"

Tyson's eyes widened at the sound of Sally's voice. "And Tyson," he put in helpfully. Sally laughed softly, and Percy pictured the way her blue eyes would crinkle at the corners as she did so.

"Bot h of my boys then," she said, a smile in her voice. "How did you get to a phone? How are you? Are you okay?" Percy knew that voice – she was worried, and she was in a hurry.

"We're…we're fine, Mom," he said, hoping she didn't notice the way his voice cracked. "Testing is awful, but we're used to it by now. After all. For me it's been, what? Five years?"

"Five and a half for you, four for Tyson," Sally said. There was something about the way she said it, something odd in her tone. Regret? "I'm sure you've grown up so much since then," she continued. "I wish I could see you."

Percy frowned at the bitter way she said the words. He couldn't tell who she was mad at.

"Percy is tall, but I am taller," Tyson supplied, a fact which had always been true. "And I have a white eye now!"

"W-what?" Sally stuttered out the word, confused.

"Something went wrong for him," Percy said, "During Testing, I mean. His eyesight is gone in his right eye. My friend, Annabeth, says he's got a cotton-eye."

There was a long silence on the other line. Percy thought Sally had hung up – whether on accident or on purpose, he didn't know – when he heard her sniffle. She was crying. A small part of him felt she deserved to, that she was the reason Tyson was half-blind, but a bigger part was upset that she was upset.

"We're going to try to escape," he said finally, pulling Tyson a little closer. "We're planning this big thing, a lot of us are. Dr. Blofis – I mean, Paul – wanted everyone to tell their parents, just in case…" Percy swallowed the lump in his throat, avoiding Tyson's eye. "Just in case we don't make it back to them," he finished finally.

There was a knock on the door. Percy swallowed hard again. "We have to go, Mom," he said softly. "I'll make sure Tyson gets home okay. I'll get home too. I love you."

"I love you too, Percy," Sally said, her voice thick with tears. Percy handed the phone over to Tyson and walked towards the door, trying to collect himself. He told himself they would get out, that he would see his mother again. (And hopefully, he _wouldn't_ be seeing his awful step-father, Gabe, while he was at it.)

Tyson finished on the phone, and Percy wiped at his eyes. He knocked on his side of the door, waiting until Paul opened it. With a final hug for his half-brother, he ran to the elevator, desperate to distance himself from the sound of his mother's tears that still rang in his ears.


	10. Reyna II

**For the record, the OCs that I've mentioned in earlier are semi-important, but not majorly so. In my initial notes, they had a significant role, but I revised the plot so they were less important, bc I know that lots of people don't like OCs very much.**

 **To Paragon Eight: I'm tossing around ways to tie-in the wood thing, but as of right now, there's no ways that I like enough to use. So yeah. Also, for a lot of the characters, the clarification of their powers comes up in later chapters. (For example, this one has some mentions of what Nico can do.)**

 **To Guest: I really don't think Annabeth could be Level Three - maybe two because she can be deadly, but three is pushing it. IDK it just doesn't fit the power she has.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. I cri.**

* * *

Reyna sat across from Nico, studying him carefully. She wasn't sure what to make of the boy. He was like a dark cloud on the edge of the sky. She knew some about him – the boy had watched his mother die as their house had collapsed on her. That would affect anyone in an awful way.

The Level Three stared back at her with a brooding gaze. She felt the scary aura that came off of him in waves, and understood why even his siblings steered clear of him a large part of the time. Nico frowned when she didn't remove herself from his dinner table after one of his particularly nasty glares.

"What do you want?" he asked finally, dropping the pizza that Reyna hadn't even noticed he held. She raised her eyebrows at the slice of – more accurately – cardboard with red sauce and plastic on top.

"I thought you were Italian," she mused. "Didn't think you'd eat something that slanders the good name of pizza. That's what Bianca says at least." Nico scowled, crossing his arms across his chest. Although she knew he was trying to look intimidating, Reyna thought that he looked more like a brooding six-year-old.

"You'll find I'm very different from my sister," he said, sending a loving glare towards said girl, who was eating happily with a group of girls referred to collectively as The Hunters – several girls who mostly cast off the company of boys, and were doted upon by a scientist named Artemis. Reyna and her sister had been approached by one of them, Zoë, to join them a few years ago, but both had declined the offer.

"I've noticed," Reyna commented drily.

"You," she added a moment later, breaking the tense silence that had grown between them.

Nico started. "What?" he asked, tilting his head. Reyna was reminded of Hazel, who, though she didn't look it, was his half-sister.

"You asked me what I want," Reyna continued. "I want you."

Nico chuckled lowly, and it struck Reyna that she had never seen the boy as amused as he seemed to be now. "Hate to break it to you," he said, "But I don't swing that way."

"Wha-"Reyna started. Nico raised his eyebrows, and her eyes widened in response. She began shaking her head rapidly, though she knew the boy would probably take offense in the gesture. To her surprise, however, the boy laughed, a real, full-fledged laugh that made people from the surrounding tables turn their way.

Reyna was still incredulous. She didn't know why, but something about this caught her off guard. Maybe it was her casual, entertained attitude in the situation. "You're," she lowered her voice ever-so-slightly, "you're gay. Who else knows?" Nico looked at her with an amused gaze, though she saw something in his eyes – was it fear of not being accepted?

"Jason Grace," he replied. "That's… that's it. He only knows because Eros brought it up during one of those weird, two person testing sessions. I have no clue how he knew, but we all know Eros is a stalker, so." Nico shrugged, and that was that, apparently.

Reyna nodded, deciding not to press matters. She placed a hand in her chin and studied him in a new light. Before, she thought that he tried to ward people off, but now she thought he was just scared of what they would think if they peeled back the layers. The fact that he was able to travel through the shadows, control and speak to ghosts, and possibly raise the dead, was just an added way to avoid others. But underneath, it appeared the boy was just like anyone else.

Reyna lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling above her uncomfortable twin bed. Though she had work to do amongst the Level Two subjects in the morning, including meeting with Grover Underwood, Rachel Dare, and the insufferable Octavian Richards during breakfast to compare Rachel and Octavian's psychic notes. (Assuming everyone lived through the encounter with the obnoxious boy.)

She could hear Hazel's soft breathing from the other side of their small room, the occasional soft snore or sigh breaking through the otherwise silent room. Reyna sighed herself, wishing that she could sleep as easily as her roommate – until she heard the start of one of the girl's nightmares.

Since The Incident, the nightmares had started. The small girl now woke Reyna nightly with shaking and screaming in her sleep. Reyna had quickly learned how to wake the girl up and calm her down before someone else heard. Unfortunately, after the nightmares, Hazel's sleep was never sound.

All members of OTF had awful nightmares, Thalia had confided in Reyna, but those who received Pain Response – the members of Level Four, a few of the oldest subjects, and Hazel – had nightmares that caused almost physical pain.

Hazel began whimpering, twisting and writhing under her covers as though she was in pain. She let out a tiny scream, which was cut short by a whimper and clenching teeth. Reyna debated waking her up, but the dark bags under the younger girl's eyes and her sleepy, glazed stares popped into her head. Making a quick decision, Reyna closed her eyes briefly, locating what she had long ago decided was the other person's soul.

Hazel's soul was warm and loving, and glowed a gold that reminded Reyna of Will's healing magic. It brought to mind happy memories and large smiles and warm hugs, but there was a hint of pain and fear on the edges. Reyna inhaled deeply, and sent the deep, wine-like glow of her own soul to merge with the gold. Behind her eyelids, she watched as the edges of the two colors blurred together, until a hint of purple worked its way into the gold, and vice versa.

As Reyna opened her eyes Hazel's movements stilled. She, herself, sat up in bed and hugged her knees to her chest, tensing every muscle of her body as the pain coursed through her. Reyna struggled to find a word to describe the feeling but there was nothing that quite amounted to what she was feeling at that moment. It was torture in every sense of the word. If this was a fraction of what Hazel had felt, Reyna wasn't sure the tiny bit of her own strength would do anything to protect her.

As the pain from Hazel faded away, Reyna was surprised to hear the girl settling into a more normal sleep. Reyna peered through the dim light afforded by the window placed high up on the wall, sighing in relief at the small, almost invisible smile that graced Hazel's face.


	11. Nico II

**Sorry that it's been a little longer between updates. Life has been chaotic recently. I'm back in FL, which is good, but I start school in two weeks which means that my updating will be slowing down. A lot. However! I have a lot of this planned out, so that will help with the updating. The escape should be relatively soon... Not sure how soon, but we're getting there. (And there is a bunch of stuff that happens _after_ they get out of OTF, so the fun doesn't end there.)**

 **Cinaedion: I actually spent forever thinking about how I'd answer your question. I was re-examining my characterization of Percy, and I see where you're coming from. Percy is really tense, which is a part of the reason that I tend to avoid writing about him - something about him intimdates me, like I'm scared to mess with Rick's main character too much. I don't know. I'm going to be working on maybe writing him a little better However - Percy is at the highest (known) level at OTF, which is Level Four. (On the same note as the Percy thing... I feel like I'm maybe writing Jason too much like Percy should be..? Should I work on that?)**

 **Someone The World Forgot: I have a whole backstory on Percy, Sally, and Tyson, don't you worry. That will make sense soon enough... :)**

 **Disclaimer: I seriously, really, truly don't own Percy Jackson. I own the books. That's about it.**

* * *

Nico glared at Jason. "Isn't Valdez your roommate?" he asked – no, growled – as he gazed at the boy who had made himself comfortable on his roommate's bed.

"Yup," Jason replied, "But he's hiding from Zhang at the moment – note to self, do not hit on Hazel. Frank's got dibs." He leaned back against the wall, placing his hands behind his head and letting out a yawn.

"Octavian's going to be pissed that you messed up his bed," Nico remarked, though he made a mental note to warn Frank to stay away from his sister at a later date. He tugged a black hoodie that was two or three sizes too large over his head, shaking his hair out of his eyes after he emerged from the neck hole.

"Octavian can go screw himself," Jason shrugged lazily. "Also, you are literally a small, adorable child, how is anyone afraid of you?" Nico sent him an insulted glare, combing through his hair with his fingers. He had to repeatedly push his sleeves up as they fell over his hands.

"I speak to the dead. Comes with the territory."

"Right," Jason rolled his eyes. Nico was growing increasingly annoyed as Jason continued to be uncharacteristically casual. Normally the older boy was a bit stoic, always acting calm and in control. Now, he was acting almost like Percy was when he wasn't being overprotective and heroic. "When are you going to tell Perce that you like him, by the way?" Jason added, startling Nico.

"I don't… shut up!"

Jason chuckled, raising his eyebrows. He squinted at the boy from behind his blond hair that, though it was once kept in a carefully trimmed buzz cut, was now just long enough to fall into his eyes. His smile slid off of his face and he leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Seriously, kiddo. He's not going to judge you – its Percy. If a pig told him it wanted to fly, he'd give it Red Bull so it could have wings."

"Don't call me 'kiddo,'" Nico muttered in dismay. Reyna had also taken up the nickname and it was starting to really grate on his nerves. "And since when are you on first name basis with Jackson?"

"He's my bro. We've literally been friends for, like, 2 years," Jason stated wryly. "You need to chill, Neeks. Nothing good comes from holding grudges." With that, Jason got up, muttering something about needing to find Leo and discuss the part of the plan that they shared with Piper. Nico glared at his retreating figure until the door was safely shut. He angrily tugged on his black pajama pants, glaring at the ends that pooled around his feet and dragged behind him.

Will Solace wouldn't shut up and it was grating on Nico's nerves. The boy chattered on incessantly about things that weren't even relevant to their current mission – that is, to ensure that everything went well with Thalia and Paul's attempt to get Artemis on their side. They were presently creeping around on the edges of the courtyard during one of the rare cases that the OTF subjects were let outside, watching and listening to the conversation that the three held.

Or, well, Nico was _trying_ to listen, anyway. But Will really wouldn't shut up.

"Do you like anyone?" he asked out of nowhere, startling Nico. He jumped and glared in annoyance, trying to ignore the way Will's hair sparkled in the sun. It really wasn't fair that someone so insufferable was granted with such perfect looks.

"I- what? No!" he whisper-yelled, eyes darting towards Thalia and Paul. Artemis was nodding with a thoughtful look on her face, clearly debating the pros and con of joining The Resistance.

"You're blushing," Will observed, grinning. "Who is it, then?" Nico shook his head, pulling on the neck of the tunic that he was required to wear. His eyes flashed towards Thalia again, whose hand was tapping her leg in a slightly disjointed pattern.

 _Long, short, long, long. Short. Short, short, short._ It took Nico a moment to decipher the Morse Code, which Leo Valdez had been kind enough to teach all the members of the Resistance. (Whilst sending hopeful looks towards his best friend and his roommate, who seemed grateful but not as impressed as Leo would like.) _Yes. Artemis said yes._

"You're hot," he stuttered out, then blushed. "I-I mean, it's hot." Will grinned. His eyes also landed on Thalia's hand and he pumped a fist excitedly.

"Artemis said yes," he declared, though Nico knew that already. Will's smile was bright enough to outshine the sun. Not for the first time, Nico compared Will to the paintings and statues of Apollo he had seen at his home in Italy and his Latin textbooks. Sunny, healing powers… it was like the boy was the son of the music god. (Unfortunately, unlike Apollo, Will couldn't sing worth anything. And he loved to sing.)

"I know," Nico mumbled, "Now all we can do is hope that she doesn't turn around and turn us into Mr. D or Chiron." As he said Chiron's name, Nico winced. The man was actually very kind and caring, similar to Paul Blofis, actually. But as far as Nico knew, Chiron had never done anything to help the subjects of OTF, and as such, he was the enemy.

Will began jabbering away again, and Nico let out a long sigh.  
_-_-_

Nico wasn't sure how he went from being relatively friendless to having three friends, but he wanted to go back and undo it. It was tiring enough to be constantly watched by his sisters, but Jason alone was like having five sisters. Will and Reyna were almost as bad.

"Nico!" Will yelled across the cafeteria. Nico sucked in a breath, avoiding the boy's gaze, and settling himself at a table where he was sure to be blocked from the blond's sight. He heard a sharp intake of breath, and looked up to find himself face to face with Henley Capuano. Her hazel eyes were wide and a bit terrified.

"Um, hi?" he said, almost questioning. Henley seemed to shrink into herself, tugging the sleeves of her hoodie over her hands.

"Are you avoiding Will?" she asked, turning her gaze to the table.

"What? No. Well, yes, but I just need some space," Nico stuttered out, feeling guilty. Henley looked up at from under her hair, tilting her head ever so slightly.

"I understand that," she mumbled. "Will was friends with my brother, and he's kind of kept his eye out for me since. He can be a bit overbearing, but he means well."

"Also, I'm pretty sure he likes you." Her voice was so soft, Nico wasn't sure he heard that correctly. Henley looked up, smiling a little shakily. "Thanks, by the way… for what you did for me a while ago. When they confused me with Katie? I just realized that I hadn't ever thanked you so… thanks."

"Oh, um, you're welcome," Nico frowned, narrowing his dark eyes at her. Something about this girl reminded him of Hazel, but he wasn't sure why. She was skinny, like Hazel, but Henley looked almost underfed. He reviewed what he knew about the girl in front of him.

He was pretty sure Henley was Italian, as he had heard her speaking his native language under her breath more than a few times. She was a Level One, and her roommate was Katie Gardner. She had an older brother who was one of the few people in OTF to have ever successfully escaped. Shortly after her brother disappeared, Henley, who had always been a meek person, became the way she was now – scared, insecure, and anxious.

Suddenly, it hit him. Henley was like a more extreme version of Post-Pain Response Hazel.

"Henley," he said, leaning towards the girl. She froze, leaning away a bit, and shifting in her seat ever so slightly. "Did they ever do…Pain Response testing on you? Maybe after your brother…" Henley was shaking like a leaf as Nico drifted off. She nodded, leaning closer to Nico and muttering under her breath.

"You can't tell Will," she whispered, "He'll freak out." At that, she gathered her food and got up, throwing her uneaten dinner in the trash can and heading for the door.


	12. Annabeth

**Wow, first Annabeth chapter. It's really short. The next one is even shorter, if that's possible. Sorry guys.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own pjo**

* * *

"Annabeth?" Piper whispered through the darkness. The blonde rolled over, cracking an eye open to peer at her roommate.

"Yes, Piper?" she asked, biting back a yawn.

"Do you ever wonder why your dad doesn't come and get you out of here?" Piper's voice sounded small, sad. Annabeth sighed, sitting up in her bed. She rested her back against the wall, pulling her knees to her chest, and squinting in the dim light of the room to spot Piper.

"I know why: he doesn't care about me," she replied, keeping her voice down. If one of the nighttime guards were to hear them talking...

"I thought it was your mother who doesn't care about you," Piper said. Annabeth winced, but nodded.

"My dad let her bring me here," Annabeth replied, staring at her feet. Her toes were painted with blue nail polish. When subjects arrive at OTF they are allowed a small number of personal items – for Thalia, that included about five bottles of black nail polish and a few other, dark, colors. She had painted Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, and Rachel's nails one day out of boredom whilst they were discussing strategies in the courtyard. Annabeth had chosen blue because it was Percy's favorite color – not that she would ever admit that.

"Maybe he didn't have a choice," Piper said softly. Annabeth frowned, scooting herself to the edge of her bed. Her eyes flickered to the door, before she pushed herself from the bed, racing across the small room and rolling into Piper's bed in an exceptionally uncoordinated fashion.

Piper giggled. "That wasn't very like you, Annabeth," she teased, a hint of sadness still on the edge of her voice.

"Oh, hush," Annabeth said softly, waving a hand in the air. "Are you okay? Why are you thinking about this?" Piper hesitated before answering. Annabeth leaned in as the other girl spoke. The words were so soft she could barely hear them.

"Percy said his mom seemed pretty surprised that Tyson and Percy weren't being treated properly, right?" Piper asked. Annabeth nodded slowly. "And Frank said that his grandmother didn't seem to have a choice in sending him here. Maybe they're threatened or blackmailed or they think it's safe here. If they had information on my father, it could destroy his career."

Annabeth nodded again, slinging a comforting around Piper's shoulder. What she was saying did make sense, especially when she thought about the people who were in charge at OTF. It was a very good possibility that they were being kept here without their parent's consent.

The girls sat there like that for a while, leaning against the wall on Piper's bed, Annabeth's arm over Piper's shoulder. Eventually, Piper's breathing slowed and Annabeth could tell her roommate was asleep. She gently lowered her friend's head to the pillow, darting back to her own bed and under the covers. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

 _"I love you so much, Annabeth," her mother said, pressing a sweet kiss to her temple. Seven-year-old Annabeth grinned up at Athena as she smoothed her curls, humming a slightly off-key lullaby. However, the fingers that were weaving their way through Annabeth's hair comfortingly soon gripped it tightly, yanking at the blonde locks and causing the young girl to scream in pain._

 _"How did you become so smart," her mother continued, in the same soothing tone. She was ignoring her daughter's anguish, yanking harder and harder at the curls in her fingers._

 _"Mom, stop!" Annabeth shrieked, hands prying at Athena's desperately. Athena raised her other hand to caress her daughter's cheek, then moved it to her throat. She began to strangle the girl, who had grown into teenaged Annabeth. "Mom. Can't. Breathe," she choked out, gasping for air._

 _And then, Athena was being shoved away from her, Percy's face hovering above Annabeth's with a smile. He extended a hand towards her._

 _"Come on, Wise Girl," he smirked, "Its okay. I've got you."_

 _Annabeth woke up with tears in her eyes._


	13. Grover

**This is a pathetic excuse for a chapter. I am so sorry. It's short and lame, but I wanted to get something up. (Sorry btw. School started on Monday so I was kind of doing that.)**

 **On another note... does anyone have Greek Heroes yet, because it's AMAZING.**

 **Disclaimer: Rick Riordan would never write something this pathetic.**

* * *

"I don't know what you want me to do with this," Grover said, eyeing the panpipes in front of him with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a thought Blofis had," said Hedge, "Humor me." Grover frowned at the short man standing in front of him. Though Hedge was arguably Grover's favorite scientist in OTF, he had a bit of a violent streak, and the teenager really didn't like the way he was clenching his fists right then.

"O-okay," Grover stuttered, taking the instrument with a shaky hand. He raised it to his lips, blowing experimentally. He tried to ignore the memories that ran through his head at the note that came out, reminding him of his many years playing such an instrument for amused family members.

Hedge nodded, marking his clipboard. "Okay, play… So Yesterday by Hilary Duff," he said in a gruff voice, peering at his clipboard to read the name of the song. Grover started, nearly falling off of the chair that he was sitting in.

"W-what?" he asked, mind working frantically. _How do they know?_ he thought

"Just do it, cupcake," Hedge growled. Grover nodded frantically, blinking back a couple of tears that clung to the edges of his eyes. He began shakily playing the intro to one of the only songs he knew how to play, watching as the strawberry plants in front of him began to grow, curling towards the ceiling. Hedge nodded, scribbling on his clipboard again.

"Stop playing," he said, finally, after Grover got about halfway through the song. "I'll let Paul know that you're pretty good with that thing – should help you out in the Resistance. Percy'll probably be talking with you about that any day now."

Grover started, almost falling off his stool again. Hedge rolled his eyes, leaning forwards to steady the boy in front of her. A laugh slipped from Hedge's lips before he could stop it; the look on Grover's face was just too funny. Wide eyed, pale faced, and flat out confused.

"Close your mouth, cupcake, you'll catch flies," he snapped to cover the chuckle. "Listen, kid. I have a son and a wife who have powers. Chiron and I have been undercover here for years, biding our time until we can get this place shut down." Grover continued to gape at Hedge.

"Does Percy know you're –" he was cut off by the man's frantically shaking head.

"No, he doesn't. Not even La Rue knows, and I practically raised the kid," he snapped. "And I want to keep it that way."


	14. Piper

**This doesn't make up for m lack of updates at all. I'm so so so so so sorry.**

 **Disclaimer: I really, truly, do not own PJO**

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Piper shifted uncomfortably under Leo's concerned gaze. To distract herself, she found herself braiding and unbraiding a small part of her brown hair, biting at her lip awkwardly. She didn't realize that she was bouncing her leg anxiously until Leo placed his hand on her knee to make her stop.

"Seriously, Beauty Queen," he said, a small pout on his face. "I'm worried about you. Frank says you keep dozing off in class and Free Time and you're distracted when you're awake. Annabeth says you haven't been sleeping well."

"I'm fine," she said, "There's nothing wrong." Leo looked at his hands, which were fiddling with each other nervously.

"See, that the thing. You're lying." When he looked up, there was genuine distress in his brown eyes. "You're not fine. I talked to Jason and we agreed that something's up. And if it's that your part in the plan is stressing you out, then tell Percy because both know that the Seaweed Brain wouldn't let anyone get too stressed out. If that's not it, then tell us what it is, because we want to help."

Piper frowned, studying his face. In the eight months that she had been friends with Leo, she had never seen him looking this serious. He tended to hide his feelings behind a goofy smile and a few well-placed jokes.

Her eyes drifted over his shoulder, to where Jason was standing a few paces away – far enough to hear what they were saying, but close enough to give them the illusion of privacy at least. She wasn't sure when or how her and Leo had become friends with the good-looking blond, but she appreciated his concern for her.

"I'm not lying," she said, shaking her head. She turned away, moving across the courtyard, finding herself joining Hazel and Nico in a secluded corner, hidden away between the bushes. The siblings seemed to be having a heated discussion, which she chose not to interrupt, instead settling herself on the ground to the side. Piper pulled off her hoodie, balling it up and turning it into a pillow.

In truth, Piper wasn't fine. Her mirror was showing those awful images again, the ones that were both terrifying and prophetic. The most recent one was of a sweet girl taking a bullet for Clarisse. Silena, who had acted as an older sister for Piper, Lacy, Drew, and Mitchell, was one of the nicest people that Piper had ever met, and she really didn't want to see her dying every time she peered into her compact.

Piper knew that the images were messing with her, and that she should just throw the stupid future-seeing mirror away, but it had been a gift from her mother. It was one of the few things that she had left of Aphrodite, aside from a handful of love-letters to her father that still faintly smelled like rose perfume.

She knew that if Leo, or Jason, or Percy, or even Paul, knew about the mirror they would tell her to get rid of it, and she couldn't bear the thought. Or worse, they would force her to use it to find out how things would work out once the plan was initiated. She hated seeing the images in the mirror, and she didn't want anyone using them, whether for good, or evil.

Piper lay her head on her makeshift pillow, and let her eyes drift closed, falling into a nightmare-ridden sleep.

Hazel was the one who woke Piper up. It was dusk, and she had to admit that the sun setting over the woods that ringed OTF was beautiful, even as it was reflected hundreds of times over in the windows of the facility. Hazel's small hand was gently placed on Piper's shoulder, and her curly hair was tickling her face.

"It's almost time to go inside," Hazel said softly, rolling back onto her haunches. She smiled at Piper, glancing at Frank, who stood over her shoulder, and Nico, who was standing further away with a frown on his face as Will talked his ear off. "We would have woken you up earlier, but Frank said that he thought you needed the nap."

Piper yawned, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Hazel smiled at her, sending a look and a nod to the three boys over her shoulder. Soon, Will, Frank, and Nico disappeared into the main courtyard, leaving Hazel and Piper alone. "How long was I asleep?"

"About three hours," Hazel said with a giggle. "Nico said you 'sleep like the dead,' – and he would know. Jason was worried sick about you when he couldn't find you about half an hour ago, by the way." Piper snorted.

"Don't know why that would be," she said, pulling herself to her feet and offering the smaller girl a hand. Hazel took it gratefully.

"Well, I think it's because he likes you," Hazel teased, causing Piper to choke. She stared at Hazel like she was crazy, her eyebrows practically disappearing into her hairline.

"Jay-Jason doesn't like me," she said, shaking her head rapidly. "He likes Reyna – right?" Hazel laughed.

"Not according to Lacy." Lacy was one of Piper's favorite people, and she happened to be able to read minds – specifically when determining how someone felt about another person. Piper's face turned bright red at the revelation in a way that resembled a tomato.

"That's ridiculous," she said, still shaking her head.

Hazel giggled and shrugged, letting Piper throw an arm around her shoulder.


End file.
